A hook-and-loop type fastener assembly is a well know mechanical fastener and wildly used in a variety of application that need to releasably hold two mating parts together, such as garment, hats/caps, shoes, personal care product (such as diapers) etc., because of its easy engaging/disengaging characteristic. The hook-and-loop type fastener assembly mainly consists of a hook strap on which an array of hooks are formed and a loop member on which a plurality of fabric loops are formed to be engaged with the hooks of the hook strap.
Recently, an application of the hook-and-loop fastener assembly to the disposable diaper is gaining more and more interest in the field. Improving the functionality and comfortableness of a diaper is a continuous and sustained goal in the diaper industry. Owing to the drawbacks of inconvenience in use and not suitable for repeatedly use, traditional backing adhesive type fastening means used to hold the diaper on a wearer is gradually replaced by a mushroom-headed hook type of hook-and-loop fastener assembly. The loop member used in the mushroom-headed hook type of hook-and-loop fastener assembly usually is a knitwear type loop member.
Generally, the knitwear type loop member used to mate with the mushroom-headed hook strap of the mushroom-headed hook type of hook-and-loop fastener assembly is a Weft knitting fabrics. However, because a knitting fabrics has a relative loose texture and a greater flexibility, the hook strap and the loop member may still be displaced laterally or even in a normal direction relative to each other, and this would cause poor fastening result and insufficient fastening strength problems. Traditional means that are taken to address these problems is to increase the woof density and shortening the length of the loops. However, the improvements resulting from these traditional means are not satisfactory. Additionally, in a post-process of a knitted fabric a PU coating and a PVC backing adhesive are applied. However, the PU coating has drawbacks such as not easy to be applied evenly, unable to sustain high water pressure, and dissolvable in water, etc.; and the PVC backing adhesive has drawbacks such as low temperature embrittlement, containing DOP, hard to be decomposed naturally, and causing environmental issues while being burned, etc.
In view of the shortcomings of traditional knitwear type loop member described above, there exists a need for a loop member of a hook-and-loop fastener assembly that can provide a stronger engagement strength and a tighter fastening result with the hook member, and a method and an apparatus for making the same.